Belgium - Liege Waffles

Beer, fries, chocolate and waffles! What more could you ask for? Belgium is famous for them all. This week I enjoyed delicious Belgian Liege waffles and learnt about the historic tradition of cat throwing.

Belgium is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Europe. This northwestern European country is bounded by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, and Luxembourg and France to the south.

The population of Belgium is divided into three linguistic communities. In the north, the Flemings speak Flemish (Dutch) and they constitute more than half of Belgium’s population. A third of the population, known as the Walloons, speak French and live in the south. Lastly, a small community in the east of the country speaks German. 

Belgium is known to be a very multicultural country. The capital, Brussels, is home to embassies and consulates of most of the world’s countries. Also, the headquarters of the EU and NATO are both located in Brussels. 

Belgium is the home of the world famous comic strip character Tintin.The Adventures of Tintin was created by Herge (George Remi) and first appeared in 1929. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. 

Belgium is also known for its many strange and wonderful festivals. In the summer there is The Procession of the Giants and Dragons and in the winter there is Carnival Binche, where villagers wear masks and throw oranges. One of Belgium's most notable festivals is The Kattenstoet or The Festival of the Cats, which takes place in Ypres every three years. The parade commemorates a Middle Ages tradition of throwing cats from the town tower. There are several legends as to how this cat tossing originated. The first is that the cats were thought to be connected to witchcraft, therefore, throwing them from the tower banished the town of evil. The second possibility is that the cats were brought in to control vermin. However, when the number of cats grew, they were tossed from the tower to control the increasing population. The last recorded event was in 1817. The people of Ypres now celebrate by throwing toy cats, dressing up as cats and occasionally having a mock witch burning. If all this sounds interesting to you, the 45th anniversary of the festival is May 13th 2018!

As with Belgian languages, Belgian food reflects the cuisine of its neighbouring countries. It is sometimes suggested that Belgian food is served in the quantity of German but with the quality of French. Belgium is best known for its fries, waffles, chocolate and beer. Belgian chocolate is world renowned and is one of the country’s main food exports. Belgium’s connection with chocolate began in 1635 when the country was under Spanish occupation and chocolate has just been brought to Europe from Mesoamerica. By the 18th century chocolate became extremely popular in Belgium, and by the 1960s Belgium was exporting more chocolate than it was importing. Since the 1980s exports of chocolate have been growing exponentially, now with 172,000 tonnes produced each year.

What goes better with chocolate than waffles? While the rest of the world loves their Belgium waffles, in Belgium there is no such thing as a ‘Belgian waffle’ but instead many kinds of waffles that differ regionally. The two most popular types are the Brussels waffles, which are rectangular and made with a light batter, and the Liege waffles, which are made with a dense dough and are richer, sweeter and crispier. I thought I would try making Liege waffles because this type of waffle is different to what I have typically had. They are native to eastern Belgium and are an adaptation of brioche bread dough with chunks of sugar that caramelise on the outside. 

Liege Waffles 

• 1 Tbs dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¾ cup warm milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups flour
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 2 Tbs honey
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• 1 ½ cup Belgian pearl sugar (or sugar cubes broken into smaller chunks)

Combine yeast, sugar and warm milk and let sit for 5-10 mins until bubbly.

 Add the egg and 1 ½ cups of flour and mix until smooth.

Cover the mixture with the remaining 2 ½ cups of flour (to prevent the dough crusting over) and let the dough rise for 90 mins.

Add brown sugar, salt, vanilla and honey. Combine together on a medium speed while adding the butter (2 Tbs at a time).

Continue mixing until a smooth dough forms. Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours.

Knock the air out of the dough and then wrap in plastic wrap several times or store in a secure container (so the dough doesn't escape when rising) and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Knead the Belgian sugar into the dough and divide into 13 balls.**

Cook your waffles in a waffle iron on a low temperature. Let the waffles cool a bit before eating them because the sugar on the outside will be hot!

**If you don’t want to eat the waffles all at once you can freeze the dough for several months.

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These waffles were delicious but so filling! They were sweet, crunchy, and the sugar gave the outside a wonderful caramel flavour. I recommend serving them with fruit to cut through these heavy flavours. Peter suggested that they tasted a bit like sweet pretzels. They were definitely different from the light, fluffy waffles that I am used to but I really loved this delicious sweet treat.

179 meals to go. Next stop on my world tour: Belize!